Wounded
by Airame Phantom
Summary: A new ghost makes Sam finally realize and tell Danny about ehr feelings. But will Danny accept her? very DS one shot, songfic


A/N: I got this idea last night because I kept singing the song 'Wounded' by Good Charlotte. Then I talked my sister to sleep 'cause I wouldn't stop talking about this fic. :)**

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**Wounded**

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_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

_**Lost and broken,  
Hopeless and lonely.  
Smiling on the outside,  
and hurt beneath my skin**_

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

"Oh come on, Tucker!" Danny said, trying to pull his Techno-Geek friend out from the new technology store that had opened up in the mall.

"No!" Tucker shouted in objection. "I won't leave!" Let me go!"

Danny had his arms encircled around Tuckers torso, pulling him out of the store. Tucker, meanwhile, didn't want to leave. He hooked his hands onto the doorway and wasn't about to let go. Sam was outside, watching. She laughed at Tucker and Danny.

"Sam, help!" Danny pleaded her, looking back with pleading blue eyes. Sam frowned, but sighed.

"Alright," she murmured and walked over to Danny who was trying, once again, to pull Tucker out the store. She encircled Danny's torso, and helped him to pull Tucker.

"No, no, no!" Tucker shouted, seeing his hands begin to slip. "NO!"

His hands gave way and the trio came tumbling backward. Danny fell on top of Sam, Tucker on top of him.

Tucker scrambled to his feet, but Danny quickly sat up, matching his speed, and grabbed both ankles. Tucker came tumbling down again. "Tucker, we've got to go!" Danny reminded. "The mall closes in five minutes!"

"So much technology," Tucker mumbled quietly.

"That will still be there tomorrow," Danny said. Both boys were on the floor facing the store, Danny holding Tucker's feet still. Sam had risen, still aching slightly, and extended a hand to both teens.

"Danny's right," she said. "We'd better go. The store isn't going anywhere very soon."

They took her hands and stood up.

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

_**My eyes are fading,  
My soul is bleeding.  
I'll try to make it seem okay,  
But my faith is wearing thin**_

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

The teens walked outside where they parted paths. Tucker had to go to his house which was the opposite direction Sam and Danny had to go. "We'll see you tomorrow, Tuck," Danny assured.

"Okay, bye guys!" Tucker said, and broke into a run in the direction of his house.

It was dark already, seeing as it was already about eight o'clock at night. Danny looked up at the sky. The stars twinkled and the moon was full. It was all just breath taking.

Sam watched him intently. He looked so peaceful right now, probably deep in thought. "One day," she heard him whisper. "if I do become an astronaut, then that's gonna be pretty much all I'll see."

"That's an 'if'," Sam murmured to herself. She couldn't imagine having Danny that far away from her. Danny looked at her and smiled. He leaned in. She didn't know what was going on so she just kept walking beside him. But she could feel her inside go cold.

Danny leaned in closer and whispered, "I heard that."

Sam sighed with some relief. Good, he didn't... She stopped the train of thought. She looked at Danny, who was still watching her. She smiled sheepishly.

"You don't want me to become an astronaut, Sam?" Danny asked her teasingly.

Sam instead looked ahead of them now. "It's not that I don't want you to become one," she said quietly. "Just that..." Sam sighed and looked up at the sky now.

Danny paid close attention to her voice trailing off and her tone. He smiled at her again. "Aw, you're gonna miss me," he said.

Sam looked at him, a little shocked he'd said that. Yes, she would miss him dearly. "The stars and space is a big place, Danny," she said softly.

Danny smiled triumphantly and put both arms behind his head. He nodded. "Yeah," he said. "But it's not like I'm not gonna send back postcards or anything. Astronauts can send mail, too, you know. A video or something. I haven't really paid close attention tot hat stuff though."

Sam sighed. Danny looked at her. She looked sad. She'd been happy a while before, why the sudden change of mood? He didn't know.

_**5S5S5S5S5S5 **_

_**So help me heal these wounds,  
They've been open for way too long.  
Help me fill this soul,  
Even though this is not your fault**_

**_5S5S5S5S5S5_**

They were almost at Sam's house when a sudden chill surged through Danny's body and out his throat in the form of a thin, strip of blue vapor that vanished into the air. "Ghost sense," Danny murmured almost automatically. He looked at Sam with sorry blue eyes.

Sam understood perfectly. He was gonna have to go to fight that ghost. "I'm going with you," she said firmly.

"But, Sam-" Danny started.

"No 'buts'," Sam responded. "I'm going with you, period."

Danny sighed. She'd made up her mind and she was going to get her way no matter what. "Fine," he said, nodding in respect of her decision. While he did so, a white ring formed at his waist. Within a second or two, Danny had transformed into his alter-ego Danny Phantom. "Cone on," he said, and floated into the air. "I don't think whatever ghost it is will be too far off."

Sure enough, both teens heard something coming strictly from the direction they were coming from. Danny turned and saw, going into an alleyway, the formed of a girl, obviously fleeing.

Danny didn't know whether he rushed towards where the figure had gone because he thought it was the ghost, or because the impulse just shot him that way. Sam followed him closely, however, not about to let Danny out of her sight.

The minute Danny set foot within the alley way, however, the air seemed to grow thick with power. This ghost wasn't ordinary, if it was a ghost at all. He had landed on the floor. "Well?" Sam asked.

"Stay here," he told her firmly, keeping her back.

"What?" Sam hissed.

"Trust me," Danny told her and walked forward, keeping on his toes and hands at the ready should anything go wrong. Sam stayed behind, watching with intense concentration. It was dark and she knew Danny could hardly see a thing; she couldn't either. And she knew, down to the very core of her soul, something _would_ go wrong. "Be careful, Danny," she whispered as Danny was nearly completely enveloped in the shadows if not for his ghostly glow. But soon even that was consumed. She only heard his footsteps and a soft sobbing sound.

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

_**That I'm open,  
And I'm bleeding,  
All over your brand new rug.  
And I need someone to help me sew them up**_

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

Danny walked forth, eyes scanning in front of him and to his left and right, him stopping every time he could swear someone was there. It seemed as if the alley way would go on forever, but he knew that couldn't be. He finally noticed the small outline of someone sitting against the wall. The alley had come to an end. He could still sense immense power coming from this form, but didn't know what it was. "Hello?" he asked the sobbing creature. There was a small gasp and he knew the figure had just noticed him, and that it was a she. "Hi, can...I help you?" he asked, crouching down.

He could see almost glowing blue-green eyes. The outline of the girl slowly gained a soft glow, illuminating the figure slightly. Danny gasped. It was just a little girl, no more than ten. She had short, curly brown-blonde hair let loose to surround a pale peach face. Her white dress was torn at the bottom and caked with mud at the hems. "It's not my fault," she murmured.

"What isn't?" Danny asked. He was completely lost in the girl's expression. She looked so vulnerable and innocent, scared and lost.

"Help me," she pleaded.

"How? With what?" Danny asked. The girl slowly came out of her up-right fetal position and sat down, leaning forward and causing Danny to almost fall back from her closeness.

"Help me," she said again. "Help me heal these wounds, they've been open for way too long. Help me fill this soul even though this is not your fault."

Danny fell back, having lost all balance. The girl had a sing-song voice, very quiet and smooth, beautiful.

"We're the same," she continued. Danny only looked at her, leaning back on his arms. She still approached him. "Open, bleeding," the girl said. "I need someone's help."

Danny's eye shifted and scanned her features. She was so close now he could feel her breath from breathing heavy on his face, yet his eyes couldn't leave hers. "Help me," she repeated breathlessly.

"Danny?" Sam called, breaking the tension and stress of the situation. Danny turned over his shoulder at the darkened silhouette that was making its way into the alley apprehensively. The girl hissed and Danny looked at her again. Her eyes glowed a furious dark blue before the once blue-green eyes turned a deep black.

"Danny? Are you okay?" Sam called, now walking a little faster.

"Sam, get home, now!" Danny instructed, sensing the energy around him suddenly grown ferocious and the temperature dropped many degrees all of a sudden. This girl was not normal.

"No one's going anywhere!" the girl shouted, standing. She brought her hands up in front of her, then moved them to her sides, palms facing the walls of the alley. Her teeth clenched and bared, and palms glowing a menacing, ghostly white, Sam found herself unable to move, unable to breath. Her body just shut down. Yet she could still see, hear, and feel the cold of the air.

"Danny," the word escaped Sam's throat before she lost all breath. Before long, she found herself being moved forward, her feet above the ground slightly. Danny took this as his chance and stood. The girl moved towards Sam once she was close enough. She eyes her, glaring daggers at the girl.

Danny's hands moved to the thermos on the strap going diagonally across his chest. But to his much amazement, it wasn't there! His eyes widened and he looked around frantically. His eyes finally landed on the girl.

**_5S5S5S5S5S5 _**

_**I only wanted a magazine,  
I only wanted a movie screen,  
I only wanted the life I'd read about and dreamed **_

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

"Looking for this?" she asked, now looking at him. The thermos was in her hand.

Danny's eyes narrowed, his expression hardened. "Who are you? What do you want?" he demanded. He needed answers, he needed a distraction of any kind to stop this ghost. This was the exact reason he had wanted Sam to not come with him: it'd be too dangerous and he didn't want her to get hurt. He never wanted her to get hurt because he couldn't protect her. It wouldn't be fair.

The girl smiled. "I only wanted help," she said. "I only wanted you to help me. I only wanted someone to be there to listen and to be with me. I wanted to live the life every girl's ever dreamed of." Her smile vanished. "I wanted to be _loved_ by someone _I _loved. For someone to care about me. Please, help me."

The girl's eyes changed back to their vivid blue-green color and once again Danny felt sorry for her. But he couldn't let that stop him. "Just put Sam down," he said. "And I can help you. Don't know how, but I will. Just put Sam down, _please_." He was trying to keep his anger under control. He knew he may not be a very good match for this girl; he knew she was more powerful than just this.

_**5S5S5S5S5S5 **_

**_And now my mind is an open book,  
And now my heart is an open wound,  
And now my life is an open soul for all to see_**

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

And he was right. The girl had one hand still up while the other was down at her side. Her one hand was what kept Sam in the air and unable to move. The girl smiled viciously, a blood-thirsty grin that made Danny's insides go dead cold. The girl's hand turned to a small fist and Sam seemed to go into a pained state. Her head shot up and her mouth opened slightly in what seemed a silent scream. "Sam!" Danny shouted, not knowing what to do.

"Now everyone can see," the girl went on. Her hand still held the thermos. Danny had to get to it. "They'll be able to see how you couldn't help her. How you failed to help her."

Danny's fists tightened. He had no choice but to fight. "Shut up!" he shouted, raising a hand, fingers forced open to release a ghost ray. The girl smiled again and brought one hand up. The green blast splayed into useless energy, spreading in various directions and almost freezing in the air as the girl's grin only seemed to glint with such an atrocious kind of happiness.

Danny couldn't help it anymore. His anger built up and he found himself charging towards the girl. This wiped the smile off her face: she was not expecting this. He was way over his head with this. Danny reached her and knocked her down. Both went sprawling to one side, the thermos falling out of the girl's hand and knocking against one wall, ricochetting off the wall. Danny scrambled onto his feet and went to grab the thermos. But the girl knew beter than to just elt him do that. She sat up, loosening ehr hold on Sam and instead switching to keep Danny from reaching the thermos. "Cross me," she hissed. "I cross you back."

Danny found himself floating in the air, his out-stretched arm only an inch from the thermos. He felt his body begin to stiffen and him begin to lose control of his movement. He reached out, straining to keep movement under his control. His finger tips touched the thermos, and his spirits rose as he grabbed it. His whirled around, still in the air. He regained his control from the girl's sudden shock. "Right back at ya," he murmured before pressing the green button on the thermos and the white-blue vortex of light shot out.

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

_**But help me heal these wounds,  
They've been open for way too long.  
Help me fill this soul,  
Even though this is not your fault**_

_**5S5S5S5S5S5 **_

The girl smiled. "It's not your fault, Wounded," she whispered. This time, however, her face was once again a look of pure innocence and the smile of pure knowing. "_She only wanted to be loved_."

Danny capped the thermos and was aware of a certain person who was now falling from the air. He, now on his feet, scrambled towards Sam as she fell. He fell onto his knees to cover more distance and caught her just before she hit the ground, breaking the fall even a little bit. He held her close.

"Danny?" she asked.

"I'm so sorry, Sam," Danny whispered. "Really..."

Sam smiled and sat up, glad to regain movement. She looked at him. He resumed human form, and for a split second, Danny felt the air grow cold then warm again from the summer night. "That girl," she whispered. "She was going through my head..."

"What?" Danny asked her. They sat there for a long while in silence, Danny's arms still around Sam as shecontemplated her thoughts.

"Yes," she whispered. "She told me...that she was trying to help..."

"She hurt you," Danny objected.

"And you did what? Sam asked. "You saved me."

"Of course," Danny said. Sam rested her head back onto Danny's shoulder. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I...don't know," Sam whispered.

"What else?" Danny asked, sensing Sam's thoughts.

"She told me..." she continued, her voice hardly a whisper now. "To tell you how I feel."

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

_**That I'm open and I'm bleeding,  
All over your brand new rug.  
And I need someone to help me**_

_**5S5S5S5S5S5 **_

Danny froze. "Before the wound leaves a scar," Sam continued on.

Danny didn't move. The girl's words whispered through his head and seemed to grow louder as a small breeze began to blow. _"It's not your fault, Wounded. She only wanted to be loved..."_

"Danny," Sam said, looking up at him now. Danny looked at her.

"Hm?" he asked.

"Danny, I think I love you," Sam said. The words were quiet. Sam's speech had been quiet. The girl must have left her weak, too weak to think straight. That was why she'd come out with this long kept secret truth without so much as a second's hesitation.

_She only wanted to be loved...Wounded..._

Danny only looked at her, not yet responding. "Sam, I..."

Sam awaited his answer with curious amethyst eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"I'm sorry..."

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

_**So you come along,  
I push you away,  
Then kick and scream for you to stay**_

_**5S5S5S5S5S5 **_

Now it was Sam's turn to freeze. She leaned off him a little bit now, confused at the moment. "Huh?"

"You got hurt tonight because of me," Danny said quietly. Sam could feel his heart begin to beat hard in his chest from her being so close to him. She still searched his face for signs of emotion. She found them and wished she hadn't. His face was washed with guilt.

"It wasn't your fault," Sam said, reaching up and caressing his cheek as if wiping away a tear with her thumb.

"But I should have taken you home," Danny said. "Not have let you get involved let."

"It's not like I haven't been through worst," Sam assured him. "I can't expect to help you catch ghosts and not get caught in the heat of battle every once in awhile."

"Sam, I love you, always have," Danny said quietly. Sam smiled but knew from his tone he wasn't done speaking. "But as long as ghosts are after me, I don't think there can ever be anything between us...I'm sorry."

Sam was speechless. "Danny," she started.

"If any of my enemies find out about us, then they'll do everything in their power to use it to their advantage," Danny continued. "I can't let you get hurt. As long as they don't know, we're okay. We can never be more than friends as long as I've got enemies like the ones I do now."

"I understand," Sam said. "But_ I'm_ sorry you feel that way." Sam began to stand, but found her legs had not regained enough strength. Danny stood and tried to help her up.

"Careful," he murmured, taking her hand. She tried to walk by herself, but ended up only falling forward and into Danny who was still waiting to see if he would have to catch her. He caught her...

...and locked lips.

Sam had fallen in a way that when she looked up to make some remark found her face colliding with the half-ghost human. The kiss brought her senses back into the reality of her recovery and she felt strength leave her completely. Neither made any effort to move. Her eyes closed and her hand found its way to his neck. She tilted her head to one side.

Danny's eyes closed as well and his left hand made it to her waist, pressing her close to him. His right hand landed on her back.

__

_**5S5S5S5S5S5 **_

_**'Cause I need someone to help me,  
Oh I need someone to help me,  
To help me heal these wounds,  
They've been open for way too long.  
Help me fill this soul,  
Even though this is not your fault**_

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

Danny pulled away. "I can't do this," he whispered, eyes opening and him letting go of Sam. "I've gotta go. You're parents are going to be mad you came home late." Sam looked at him and smiled fondly.

"Don't worry," she said.

"Should I-" Danny started.

"I'll go by myself. Go before you end up being late going home too," she told him.

"I really am sorry, Sam," Danny said.

"And I understand," Sam assured him once again.

Danny smiled and went ghost again. He soon faded from view as he flew to his house. Sam began to walk to her house. She walked inside and immediately her parents began to lecture her about coming home late and the whole big. But she didn't care. She only half-listened, though none of the words actually registered in her head completely. After seeing no response, her parents finally gave him.

Sam sighed and began to walk to her room. She was happy and sad at the same time. But more than every she was glad she had finally told Danny how she felt. She was also glad Danny had told her how he felt too.

But what's more important...

_**5S5S5S5S5S5 **_

_**That I'm open,  
And I'm bleeding,  
All over your brand new rug.  
And I need someone to help me sew them,  
I need someone to help me fill them,  
I need someone to help me close them up**_

_**5S5S5S5S5S5**_

...the wounds had been healed.

...her soul had been filled.

...she was no longer Wounded.

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E/N:This song is actually an almost hidden track on their CD that starts to play about 5.40 minutes into the last song, 'The Anthem(live)'. 

--Airamé Phantom


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